Preliminary study of abrasive water jet texturing on low thickness UNS A92024 alloy sheets

Abstract

Texturing and surface modification operations are a line of research of great interest nowadays. The requirement to establish a process that can generate a constant and homogeneous roughness as a previous step to joining operations, application of paint or mechanical tests is a current challenge. Technologies such as shot blasting or laser texturing have achieved great results in terms of roughness and surface activation. Nevertheless, there is an alternative technology that is achieving great interest. Abrasive water jet texturing takes advantage of the combination of the impact of abrasive particles and water at high speed with the controlled displacement of the jet to generate a surface with a controlled roughness. Thus, in comparison with other technologies, abrasive waterjet texturing can achieve higher roughness values and a constant texturing area as a function of the overlap established between the passes. In this work, a preliminary study is proposed in order to establish a direct relationship between the parameters governing the technology and the roughness generated in a low thickness UNS A92024 alloy. Defectology associated to the process, as well as the combination of texturing parameters have been determined.